Page 31 of Catching Sparkles

I’ll pick you up in 30.

“Something with my brother?”

“Shopping for baby shower gifts,” I confirmed, hoping he wouldn’t consider the fact that all anyone had to do was click a link and add to cart.

“Ah, okay!” He said. “That’s nice of you to help him out.”

Of course Benji wouldn’t be suspicious or assume the worst of anything. He wasn’t that kind of guy. And on top of that, I had a feeling that the idea of holding a crush on someone for a fucking decade of them being gone was probably unfathomable to him. His fixations had never lasted long, always hopping from crush to crush when we were in school together, until Josie had locked him down.

“Yeah, well, it’s no trouble,” I said, hoping I sounded casual and like the amount of effort I’d be expending was any determining factor in my decision to help him. Like I wouldn’t have crawled on my stomach through broken glass to spend a day with Rhys. “I’ll talk to you later, Benji.”

“Later,” he responded, before I took off my headset and scrambled into my bathroom to take a quick shower.

As I rubbed gritty sugar scrub all over my body and massaged strawberry-scented shampoo into my scalp, I tried not to think too much about how my instincts were telling me that Rhys seemed to really like the pretty parts of me. He liked that my skin was smooth and that I smelled soft and sweet. I’d always gotten the sense that the guys I’d dated before had tolerated my quirks and preferences regarding hygiene and style and fashion. Or, if I was being really generous, most of them had been neutral about it.

But Rhys seemed really into it, which was simultaneously surprising and felt kind of obvious. He liked girls. Of course he was going to like the parts about me that leaned more feminine. But that didn’t mean he was thinking of me as a woman… Did it?

Uncomfortable with the idea, I forced myself to remember that he hadn’t flinched away from my dick in the alley or begrudgingly touched me. He’d been totally into it, devouring me with his eyes and panting with arousal while he stroked me. No, I was being weird and paranoid just because he’d only been with women before. Even if he wasn’t ready to actually admit it yet, even to himself, Rhys was definitely not straight.

In my bedroom, I yanked clothes out of my drawers and closet, tossing them on my bed to inspect. Deciding on my favorite pair of jeans, the ones that fit me like a glove with rips up and down the legs, I tugged them on along with a high-cropped tee that was just a little too big for me, tending to slouch over to one side to expose my shoulder.

I pulled open my top drawer, the one with all my socks and underwear in it, smirking a little as I remembered the way Rhys had practically drooled at my stringy cat print panties. He’d definitely been into it. I didn’t usually wear stuff like that when I was just running errands around town and stuff, but… Maybe I’d play it safe and dress up for him just in case. Nothing too fancy, just a cotton pair with black and white polka dots that rode low on my hips and were cut high in the back to show some of my butt. But the edges were trimmed in black lace.

If he didn’t end up seeing them, that was fine. We were just shopping for baby stuff, anyway. It wasn’t like the world was littered with empty alleyways for us to duck into so he could bend me over and split me open on his giant cock.

Okay, so he probably wasn’t ready for all that yet, even though I’d kind of already forced him to verbally admit he wanted to fuck me. But a boy could dream.

WHEN I PULLED up to the Kensington house a bit later, Rhys was already waiting for me on the shady front porch. When he stood to make his way down the steps and toward my car, my eyes roamed all over him, drinking in all of his features as my heart stumbled in my chest. He pushed his dark hair up off his forehead and slipped the aviator sunglasses he’d had hooked on the collar of his shirt onto his face before sliding into my passenger seat.

“Hey, Sparkles.”

All of my attempts to look cool and casual and totally unaffected by his raging aura of hotness and general perfection was obliterated, dissolving like snowflakes on my tongue.

Suddenly I was thrown into the past, when I’d been an awkward, stuttering nerd and he’d been a popular, confident jock. And I’d had absolutely no chance with him, a fact that had definitely weighed on my sensitive, lovesick heart.

But when I reached out to adjust the A/C at the same time that Rhys was slinging his seatbelt clasp over to buckle it in, our hands brushed, electricity shooting through my body from my fingertips. He froze but didn’t jerk away, his eyes snapping up to meet mine as he cleared his throat. Taking advantage of the fact that he hadn’t pulled away, I flattened my palm against his before linking my fingers between his. His hand was warm and just a little calloused, the size practically dwarfing mine. It made for a cute little picture. But maybe I was biased about that.

Like I’d predicted, the prolonged touch seemed to ebb out his nerves and tension, and I watched him visibly relax in the passenger seat before I slipped my hand away so I could put the car in reverse.

“Hi, Rhys.”

“I, um, really appreciate you doing this,” he said, once we were on the road. “This is kind of my first, you know… uncle thing. I don’t want to screw it up.”

“That’s funny,” I mused, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel and trying not to make it obvious how completely fucking adorable I found it that he was taking the idea of becoming an uncle so seriously. Josie was an only child and Benji just had us, so it was good he was willing to step up. “I was just telling Benji how you and I were co-uncling on this little excursion.”

“You told him you were picking me up?”

“Yeah. I was on a call with him when you texted.”

“On a call?” He repeated. “Like a video game thing?”

“Yeah.”

“Did he… Sound weirded out about it?”

“No,” I denied, my eyebrows furrowing together. “He thought it was cool we were working together. Why?”

“I don’t know,” he mumbled, flushing a bit as he shifted his gaze out the window. “I just didn’t know if he would be weird about us hanging out.”